Mass spectrometry has widely been used to analyse and identify constituents of a sample of material. The material to be analysed is transferred into a gas phase and ionised. These ions are then accelerated via an electric field and sorted depending on their mass-to-charge ratio under the influence of a magnetic field.
US 2003/0136904 A1 specifies a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer in which a droplet is ionised using electrospray ionisation and/or atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation. Constituents of the droplet are then analysed in a mass spectrometer. Further prior art can be found in US 2011/107822 A1, US 2004/0026617 A1, US 2012/0217389 A1, WO 2012/001421 A1 and US 2012/0153143 A1.
However, there is a need for improved techniques for analysing constituents of a droplet.